How India's federal structure divides power between the Union and the States — and holds it together.
The Seventh Schedule divides subjects into three lists: the Union List (exclusive to Parliament), the State List (exclusive to State legislatures — though Parliament can legislate on it in specific situations under Articles 249, 250, 252 and 253), and the Concurrent List (both can legislate; in case of conflict, the Union law prevails, per Article 254). Unlike the US, residuary powers rest with the Union (Article 248).
Articles 256-263 empower the Union to direct States on the exercise of executive power, and provide mechanisms for cooperation — most notably the Inter-State Council (Article 263), and the All-India Services, which are common to the Union and the States.
Articles 268-293 govern the distribution of tax revenues. Several taxes are levied by the Union but collected and appropriated by the States, and the Finance Commission (Article 280), constituted every five years, recommends how Union tax revenue should be devolved to the States. The GST Council (introduced by the 101st Amendment, 2016) is regarded as a landmark institution of cooperative federalism, bringing the Union and States together to jointly decide GST rates and rules.
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